Goa's Rural Development Minister Fransisco Miccky Pacheco, whose conviction for assaulting a government servant was upheld by the Supreme Court, resigned from the cabinet on Friday saying he did not want to cause further embarrassment to the BJP-led government in the state.
The two main factions in Karnataka's Congress party -- one led by Siddaramaiah and the other by D K Shivakumar -- are both contenders for the chief ministership. Both groups have fought hard to get their choice of MLAs the party ticket, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Against the backdrop of allegations pertaining to illegal mining, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat met Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Though the Kamat government has been facing heat over alleged instances of illegal mining in the state, the change of leadership is not on the cards at least till the Justice M B Shah Commission probing illegal mining submits its report. Kamat said his meeting with Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday was a courtesy call.
Many of the Congress stalwarts including four from Churchill Alemao family and state party chief Subhas Shirodkar bit the dust as the Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party alliance on Tuesday managed to bag majority of seats in Goa assembly elections.
Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a 'new vision for India'.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
The names of two veterans -- Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker of Legislative Assembly Rajendra Arlekar -- are being considered for the top post in case Parrikar moves to Delhi.
Apart from Kerala, in no state did the Grand Old Party scored in double digits.
Congress member of Parliament Francisco Sardinha on Friday moved a private member's Bill in the Lok Sabha to revoke the ban on bullfights, asserting that these festivities form part of a tradition going back centuries.
Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, who earned the ire of Congress colleagues for his statement calling Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi his 'best friend', on Saturday said the remark was taken out of context and expressed his commitment to secularism. "My statement has been taken out of context solely to create media and political hype," Kamat, who left the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2005 and joined the Congress, said, seeking to put a lid on the controversy over his remark.
Cashing-in on the anti-incumbency factor in a big way, the Bharatiya Janata Party-Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party combine on Wednesday rode to power in Goa, ousting the Congress and securing majority in a House of 40 members, nearly half of whom will be new faces.
Goa's former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat was asked to furnish a surety of Rs 1 lakh.
Even as a large number of RSS workers and supporters, including some office bearers, have pledged support to Velingkar, who was removed as the state chief recently, a sizable number of swayamsevaks are averse to part ways with the Sangh.
Five Congress legislators, who have been lobbying against Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, have decided to meet assembly Speaker Pratapsingh Rane to urge him to take charge of the top post, sources close to them said on Wednesday. The legislators are backed by a group of seven legislators including three from the Nationalist Congress Party, two from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party, one from the United Goans Democratic party and an independent, they said.
Goa police on Wednesday said it has come to light that "bribe was paid" by a US firm for a water developmental project in the state.
The situation raises concerns about whether the promised freebies will once again push the state into a revenue deficit.
The Congress hit out at Devendra Fadnavis being sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister on Saturday, saying it was a "betrayal of people's mandate" and the "illegitimate" government formation will self-destruct.
Chidambaram also stressed that there were lessons to be learnt by the Congress from the Gujarat loss, saying there is no such thing as a "silent" campaign in a hard-fought election.
Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday promised free pilgrimage to various religious centres, including Ayodhya and Ajmer Sharif, if his party is voted to power in Goa in the assembly polls due in next February, which he said is a 'third guarantee' being given by AAP to Goans.
The two rival Senas took over each other a day after the party's 57th foundation day celebrations which saw Thackeray and Shinde holding separate events in Mumbai and trading charges.
The young and suave candidate of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhavya Bishnoi, looks to defend his 'family bastion' for five decades, while the main opposition Congress has placed its bet on veteran leader Jai Prakash in the Adampur bypoll in Haryana.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it was not disappointed with the results of Goa Assembly elections though the outcome was not up to the expectations.
Reacting to the statement, the Congress in Goa accused the TMC of entering the poll fray in the state in order to 'divide secular votes and give mileage to the ruling BJP', and also alleged that Kishor's remarks exposed Mamata Banerjee-led party's agenda.
Governor S C Jamir administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sequeira at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and others.
While former minister and MLA Aravind Limbavali's wife Manjula Arvind Limbavali has got the ticket for the Mahadevapura constituency, the party has fielded Katta Jagadish, son of former minister Katta Subramanya Naidu from Hebbal.
A series of close-door meetings are being held at the chief minister's official residence at Altinho in Panaji, where Congress and NCP legislators are working on their strategy, sources said.
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Thursday opposed a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha, which is under scan for the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, saying banning any organisation is "undemocratic".
The National Commission for Women on Wednesday termed as 'derogatory and irresponsible' the remarks of a Congress Member of Parliament from Goa on the alleged rape of a Russian woman in the state.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
The Congress is set to retain power in the state.
Utpal Parrikar, son of former Goa chief minister the late Manohar Parrikar, on Friday quit the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Modi hit out at the Congress for its president Mallikarjun Kharge's attempt to play down his party's poor show in the polls by describing it as "small state elections".
Sources close to Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat said that the tourism industry, already reeling under severe recession, worked overtime to ensure the state does not implement the ban as it will send wrong signal to the tourists, resulting in more cancellations.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
Under attack over their proposed government-funded trip to Brazil to watch the football World Cup, six Goa legislators on Friday decided to pick up the tab for the visit themselves although opposition the Congress said it would only believe them if an official notification confirmed their decision.
Technocrat-turned-politician, Manohar Parrikar, set to become Goa chief minister for the third time, is known for his clean image, blunt talk and development initiatives.
Rejecting allegations of showing undue interest in and interfering with the probe, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said the state government has a duty to do justice to the girl in the case of alleged sexual assault by Tehelka Editor Tarun Tejpal.
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